The present invention relates to an apparatus for as well as to a method of measurement of components.
Modern mounting and manufacturing processes increasingly are based on the use of mounting and manufacturing robots, whose actuators are rotatably displaceable in their positions around a plurality of pivot axes for obtaining a high spacial movement flexibility of the robots. The production processes which become more and more complicated post however high demands for the precision of the movement of the robot actuators. The precision of the movement significantly decreases with an increasing number of pivot axes partially. This relationship can be substantially traced to the number of robot components and their component tolerances, as well as to the increasing number of turning axes bearings and their bearing clearances. For providing high-precision movements in such robot systems, they must be partially post-adjusted in defined time intervals by very expensive calibrating processes.
In the past many efforts were made to simplify these calibration processes. The European patent document EP 1 302 285 shows for example such a calibration process, which with the use of complex mathematic relations discloses an efficient and simplest structure calibration process for post-adjusting of robot movements. Based on the complex mathematical relations, such calibration processes are however not suitable to improve the precision of the movement of mounting and manufacturing robots to such a degree that their actuators would be capable for high-precision component measurements.
For performing high-precision component measurements, measuring processes are established, which are performed in so-called measuring spaces under laboratory conditions. In addition to a high time expense for the performance of such measuring processes, they possess the disadvantage that they are integratable in the mounting or manufacturing lines only to a limited degree. In contrast, the robot systems with sensors which can perform high precision measurements are good for the integration in the mounting and manufacturing lines, but such an integration stands in the way of the insufficiently precise movement of the robot segments.